25,000+
love letters
about the project
a collective love letter to the world…
The World Letter is an ongoing participatory art project founded by French-Iranian artist Cocovan. The project started in the summer of 2017 as a series of street installations all around the world, in which people of all walks of life come together to write a collective love letter to the world.
Cocovan sets up a desk in a public space, and invites passersby to write a love letter to the world on an ever-growing scroll of paper.
As of today, The World letter has visited 6 continents, and been to more than 50 cities including New York City, Kathmandu, Paris, Bogotá, Kampala, Mexico City, Kyiv, Berlin, Bishkek… among others.
an ever-growing scroll (this is just a small part of it!)
145 / 195 nationalities represented
…from the world
Anyone can participate to The World Letter on only one condition: to write a love letter to the world.
As of today, more than 25,000 people have already participated to The World Letter, writing their love letters in many different languages and representing 145 different nationalities.
The World Letter brings together people from all paths of life, all backgrounds, all religions, all ages, all ethnicities... as one united humanity.
Kathmandu, Nepal (2021)
600 meters*: that’s twice the size of the Eiffel Tower
*2000 feet
a very, very, very long love letter… (600 meters* and growing)
As more and more people write on The World Letter, the scroll grows longer. Today, it spans over 600 meters*, making it the longest love letter in the world and a real piece of history.
Love letters have been written in many different languages, such as: Sanskrit, Inuktitut, Gaelic, Latin, Code, Twi, Guaran, Michif, Turkmen, Tibetan, Newari, Kirundi, Ukrainian, Telegur, Occitan, Chichewa, Kabyle, Bhutanese, Kyrgiz (and yes, yes, of course, English!), etc.
And then?
The World Letter will be complete once at least 1 person from every country will have signed it. There are 196 countries in the world, and so far, already 145 nationalities are represented on The World Letter. Then, Cocovan wants to exhibit The World Letter around the world, and make a documentary film about the journey.
At the very end of the project, as a poetic ending, Cocovan intends to send a digital copy of The World Letter... into space! In a “nano-sat” that will orbit around the Earth for a couple of years.
Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda (2020)
take part in the project
participate online (write your love letter to the world)
The World Letter began in the street, but it has since expanded into the digital world too. And now, you can participate to the project online as well, from anywhere in the world!
support by making a donation
Believe it or not, but the project is completely self-funded. Every donation, small or big, helps tremendously! The World Letter is a non-profit organization registered in France under Loi 1901.
volunteer
The World Letter is always looking for help, and wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the help of hundreds of volunteers across the world! Do you want to help organize a World Letter event in your country? Are you a polyglot and can help translate some of the love letters? Are you a teacher and want to organize a World Letter in your school independently? Apply below!
Song Kul, Kyrgyzstan (2021)
collaborations
They have collaborated with The World Letter:
want to collaborate?
Bogotá, Colombia (2018)
About the artist and founder
Cocovan is a 36 year old performance artist. Born in Paris, France, to an Iranian father and a French mother, she spent most of her twenties pursuing a career as a pop singer in the USA. Grown tired of the music industry, she started exploring performance art in public spaces in 2016, with the intention to enchant the streets and bring poetry into the daily life. She hasn’t looked back ever since. She has done art performances in public spaces in more than 16 countries around the world.
Cocovan has given a TEDx talk at Columbia University in NYC, and has even given a (little) speech at the UN Headquarters.
Cocovan and The World Letter
Kyiv, Ukraine (2023)
Click on the letter for translation!
(On mobile: click the letter, then click the dot at the right bottom corner of the screen)
